U.S.-Iran Engagement in Science, Engineering, and Health (2010-2016) A Resilient Program but an Uncertain Future (2017) / Chapter Skim
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3 Program Activities from 2010 to 2016
3 Program Activities from 2010 to 2016
Pages 43-66
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From page 43... ...
Then, following the election in 2013 of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who advocated international cooperation, interest at a number of U.S. universities and other science-oriented institutions increased.
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Also of importance was the National Academies' financial support or simply encouragement of participation of American scientists in individual exchange visits to Iran or in presentations of their research findings at international conferences in Tehran. Participation in such conferences could usually be coupled with visits to research organizations.
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From page 45... ...
At the same time, the sustained involvement of well-educated and experienced Iranian scientists in exchanges that had been carried out by the National Academies over many years provided a rallying point for some scientists at major Iranian institutions to consider traveling abroad for the first time, having heard positive reports of hospitality of American colleagues in the United States.4 However, for the longer term visits, research positions in the United States were in high demand; and rising Iranian stars increasingly accepted the European or Canadian alternatives as both practical and good choices, given the intense competition in the United States and also the stagnation of U.S.-Iran political relations that hindered opportunities to make needed contacts.5 2 Estimates of Department of State officials who followed student exchanges, November 2016. 3 Reports of American visitors to Iran, 2010-2012.
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From page 46... ...
They knew that engagement in research linked to development of nuclear weapons would be discussed in great detail, but they were uncertain as to whether civilian science cooperation would be on the agenda. Nevertheless, they began giving serious attention to expansion of activities in non-nuclear fields as well; but they still recognized that progress in any field depended to some extent on the closing of a nuclear deal.6 With new government leaders in place in Iran in 2013, the National Academies soon received accolades from government officials in both Tehran and Washington about the importance of science engagement programs during previous years.
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A discussion of activities of the National Academies' Transportation Research Board then set the stage for participation of the Iranian visitors in the 90th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board.
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2. Solar Energy: In August 2011, 12 Iranian specialists in solar energy spent three weeks in the United States, visiting Washington, Colorado, and Arizona, before completing their tour with participation in a workshop with 8 U.S.
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• Design of solar energy systems. American scientists became aware of the scope of solar energy research in Iran and also had an opportunity to learn about the operating experience of the country's first pilot solar-thermal power plant near Shiraz.
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establishment of many efficient and inexpensive village grids, and (b) development of largescale solar farms covering vast territories of land, well-suited to transform solar radiation into energy that could be stored and distributed as electricity to lightly populated areas.
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After additional stops by the Iranian visitors at mathematics departments of universities in Chicago and Texas, the workshop in Irvine attracted additional American mathematicians to meet with the Iranian researchers/educators.11 While the American host organizations provided outstanding support for the visit, neither the Iranian nor American participants promoted follow-on activities. It was possible that had there been greater interest, the 10 Tyler Cutforth, editor, Wildlife Conservation and Habitat Management, University of California, Irvine, April 2012.
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Recognizing the prevalence and similarity of earthquakes confronting Iran's northern neighbors, PEER also reached out to counterpart institutions in Turkey and Armenia in encouraging regional approaches for understanding the threat and consequences of violent seismic tremors that were common throughout the region. A workshop in Tehran in 2012, the fourth bilateral event sponsored by PEER and the National Academies, exceeded expectations.
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6. Deterioration of the Lake Urmia Basin: In 2013, the National Academies responded to a personal request for bilateral cooperation from the then Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
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Shortly after the National Academies' joint workshop in France, the Iranian government assembled a number of Iranian experts as advisors, including four Iranian scientists who had participated in the workshop and had then continued their interactions with American counterparts. Careful selection of the American and Iranian participants in the workshop in France and in other collaborative activities paid off in a variety of ways.
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In addition, USC arranged a day-long site visit of participants to the South Coast Air Quality Management District and organized a roundtable devoted to environmental engineering, air pollution, and health research involving graduate students and faculty members. These activities were held under the auspices of the National Academies.15 The workshop and related visits by the Iranian scientists to several U.S.
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They also became optimists that U.S.-Iran science engagement has the potential to demonstrate technical solutions for reducing vexing urban problems encountered around the globe.17 The success of the initial efforts pioneered by the University of Arizona and Sharif University of Technology far exceeded expectations. The two universities agreed to focus future collaborative efforts at a new Center for Resiliency on a campus of Sharif University of Technology.
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Others focused on the importance of Iran strengthening its policies and programs for addressing climate change. Already in early 2016, Iranian participants at the workshop in France reported progress in transforming some of the suggestions into action.18 10.
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The Iranian team members shared their findings with colleagues at home. Within two months Iranian participants reacted by inviting the National Academies to participate in a workshop to be held in the near future in Ramsar, the site of the signing of the international convention devoted to conservation of wetlands three decades ago.
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Food Supply in an era of climate change, and (b) Water and Soil Management • Retina Group of the Carolinas: Ophthalmology Research and Treatment LESSONS LEARNED The 2010 review of the National Academies' programs identified the following five lessons learned, an observation that was reinforced during implementation of the program from 2010 through 2016: • Committed and influential U.S.
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The assessment underscores that the lessons learned in this effort have wide applicability in other areas of the country, as well as addressing pressing science, engineering, and management issues of broad concern throughout Iran. In future programs supported by the National Academies or other organizations with strong international experience, there should be opportunities to promote the concepts highlighted by the World Bank.
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The event named iBridges attracted 700 IT enthusiasts interested in exploring opportunities for and challenges of high-tech entrepreneurship in Iran. In June 2015, the second iBridges event was held in Berlin where it attracted 1,100 participants from 50 countries, with the American contingent from Silicon Valley featured on center stage.
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A high-profile activity of interest to American scientists has been Iranian investigations of the long-term health impacts on Iranian military veterans during their exposure to chemical agents in the Iran-Iraq war more than three decades ago. According to NIH-supported American investigators, an estimated 30,000 Iranian victims of the Iraqi chemical attacks (particularly mustard and sarin)
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Initial plans called for eventual coverage of spine surgery, total knee arthroplasty, shoulder surgery, limb lengthening, radiology, anesthesiology, and road traffic trauma. This program is still in its early stage.25 23 Mohammed Reza Zali, Mansoureh Saniee, Attitudes of Iranian Scholars and Theologians towards Bioethical Considerations of Cloning, Genetic Screening, Patents, and Confidentiality, Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, May 29, 2005.
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Each year IIE publishes Open Doors, which contains detailed information about students from Iran and other countries who study in the United States and also American students who study abroad. IIE sent teams of staff and university faculty members to Iran in 2015 and 2016, primarily to arrange for expanded student exchanges but also to encourage faculty-faculty interactions.27 26 See http://www.exportlawblog.com/archives/5902.
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The longer that uncertainty concerning engagement dominates the political scene, the more difficult it will become to restore much of the advocacy and momentum for science-engagement that the National Academies have developed since 2000.
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